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Denver Nuggets to take on NBA's hottest team in Memphis Grizzlies

The Denver Post's Benjamin Hochman posts analysis, notes and more on this blog focussing on the Denver Nuggets.

MEMPHIS, tenn. — Basketball's brawniest, baddest bullies don't chill in L.A. They dwell in Memphis, here in the low post, where they push people around with their broad, brute shoulders, each covered with a chip.

Highlight-reel fans will always choose Dwight Howard or Pau Gasol over Zach Randolph or Marc Gasol, but a few weeks into this season, these Memphis maulers have been ballers, leading the Grizzlies to the best record in the NBA.

The shaken and stirred Nuggets (4-6) are in town to play the Grizzlies, losers of their first game, winners of their next eight — including victories against the Thunder, Knicks and Heat. Denver has lost three consecutive games, including a rattling 126-100 loss Saturday night at San Antonio.

"Everybody knows we've got to get better, we've got to improve," Denver coach George Karl said after Sunday's practice. "For me, it's got to be in the sense of knowing that the two teams that beat us are championship-contending teams, and we're not at that level yet. We can get to that level.

"With Memphis, there's no question that there are very few guys in the NBA who can deliver success and victory in low-post play, and Randolph and Gasol definitely can. And they work very well as a team. They're very unified. I think Gasol has gotten to become an extraordinary passer, and Zach knows if he makes a good read or offensive trick, he'll get the ball. His efficiency is tremendous."

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Monday night's matchup features Randolph against fellow power forward Kenneth Faried. The former is a savvy veteran, the latter a leaping youngster. Still, both men are mean. Rebounders generally are. Randolph leads the NBA by averaging 13.9 rebounds, while Faried leads the league with 5.6 offensive boards.

But as Karl pointed out about Randolph, "His offensive rebounding is as good or better than Kenneth, so it will be interesting to see how those two go against each other."

Yes, Faried has had some big numbers of late, but the Denver low post must ascend to a higher level of toughness, both physically and mentally, if the Nuggets are going to survive Memphis.

JaVale McGee, for instance, has been tallying up goaltending calls with frightening ease. And all of the bigs have been guilty of missing shots near the basket — only five NBA teams shoot worse than Denver's 33 percent from 5 to 9 feet from the basket.

"Memphis is probably playing the best basketball in the league right now," Nuggets forward Corey Brewer said. "We need to push the pace, and we need to keep the big guys off the boards. They're both offensive rebounding like crazy."

Both teams are, really. Denver leads the league with 16.4 offensive rebounds per game, while Memphis is eighth with 12.9.

Sunday's practice in Memphis wasn't one of those scare-tactic sessions. The Nuggets were light and loose and laughing.

Karl said "it's not time to get crazy," and said he isn't going to change his lineup or rotation.

As for Monday's opponent, "I think the Grizzlies took last season, in which they lost in the first round, and it motivated them to play at a higher intensity and togetherness than any other team in the league right now," Karl said.

"They're confident, confident in winning close games, confident in their defense, and I think the most impressive thing is they've developed more personality offensively," Karl said. "Their bench is a high-quality NBA bench. We're going to have to play an 'A' game to beat them."

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